Category Archives: ESAS

Revisiting LUNOX and an ISRU critique

Posted on April 21, 2026 by Kirk Sorensen

There’s a particular NASA mission concept from 1993 that deserves more attention than it gets, and a 2007 critique of lunar in-situ resource utilization that deserves to be read alongside it. Taken together, they map out why lunar ISRU has … Continue reading →

Posted in ESAS, Lunar Commerce, Lunar Exploration and Development, Space Transportation | 5 Comments

Queqiao, first use of the powered lunar swingby

Posted on April 19, 2026 by Kirk Sorensen

In 2006, no one had flown the powered lunar swingby to EML2. In 2018, the Chinese did it, and they cited Farquhar while they were doing it. For 20 years I’ve been entranced by the astrodynamic advantages of the Earth-Moon … Continue reading →

Posted in ESAS, Lunar Exploration and Development, Orbital Dynamics | Leave a comment

Gateway is gone, do we need a lunar station?

Posted on April 15, 2026 by Kirk Sorensen

NASA just canceled the Lunar Gateway — the first space station ever planned for EML2. That’s worth reflecting on, because the case for a station at that location has never been stronger. In my previous post I laid out the … Continue reading →

Posted in ESAS, Lunar Commerce, Lunar Exploration and Development, Orbital Dynamics, Propellant Depots, Reusable Lunar Landers, Space Development | Leave a comment

2006, a lunar architecture

Posted on April 13, 2026 by Kirk Sorensen

The astrodynamic case for Earth-Moon L2 rendezvous was made in 1972 and again in 2006. The math hasn’t changed. Neither has the conclusion. Back in January 2006, I opened a thread on the NASASpaceFlight forum with a bit of a … Continue reading →

Posted in ESAS, Lunar Exploration and Development, Space Development, Space Exploration | 3 Comments

Fascinating New Propellant Depot Architecture Paper

Posted on March 30, 2011 by Jonathan Goff

Keith Cowing just posted a link to a fascinating new pro-Propellant Depot analysis. I was impressed to see who the second coauthor was… When you have one of the leaders of ESAS coming out in favor of propellant depots and … Continue reading →

Posted in ESAS, Propellant Depots | 3 Comments

HEFT Frustrations Venting

Posted on January 13, 2011 by Jonathan Goff

So, most of you in the space policy world have heard about NASA’s report back to Congress about how it wants to build an Ares-V classic HLV, but that Congress wasn’t giving them enough time or money, and Congress’ dignified … Continue reading →

Posted in Commercial Space, ESAS, NASA, NEOs, Propellant Depots | 80 Comments

Falcon 9 and Ares I

Posted on March 22, 2010 by Jonathan Goff

I just saw something this morning that amused me. Both ESAS and Falcon 9 were formally announced within about a week or two of each other (in September 2005). Four and a half years later, a fully-orbital Falcon 9 is … Continue reading →

Posted in ESAS, SpaceX | 82 Comments

Why Not Just Fund the Program of Record?

Posted on December 14, 2009 by Jonathan Goff

Amid all the recent discussion of the Augustine Committee’s results, Mark Whittington asks a question that a lot of people in Congress seem to be asking: “Why not just pay for the current program since any new program is going … Continue reading →

Posted in Commercial Space, COTS, ESAS, International Space Collaboration, Lunar Commerce, Lunar Exploration and Development, NASA, NEOs, Politics, Space Development, Space Policy | 31 Comments

Comment on Brett Alexander’s Congressional Testimony

Posted on December 3, 2009 by Jonathan Goff

I didn’t have a chance to watch either of the House subcommittee hearings today, so I’m grateful that Clark linked to the testimonies of the various witnesses.  I really enjoyed reading Brett’s testimony, and thought one of his points in … Continue reading →

Posted in Bigelow Aerospace, Commercial Space, COTS, ESAS, Launch Vehicles, NASA, SpaceX | 13 Comments

Poor Taste Humor Tuesdays: CxP Edition

Posted on October 20, 2009 by Jonathan Goff

This is poor taste, but too funny not to pass along (I apologize in advance to CxP workers reading this). Upon hearing about another CxP element that’s been supposedly defunded, a NASASpaceFlight.com member (Lawntonlookirs) expressed his frustration by creating the … Continue reading →

Posted in ESAS, Fun, NASA | 2 Comments